C. Thomas Howell
Christopher Thomas "Tommy" Howell (born December 7, 1966), known by his stage name C. Thomas Howell, special guest stars as Dewey Dudek in Southland. Howell joined the cast as a guest star in the pilot episode. He remained a recurring guest star in the second and third season before being promoted to special guest star for the fourth season. He is an American actor and film director. He starred in the films The Outsiders as Ponyboy Curtis and in The Hitcher as Jim Halsey. He has appeared in The Da Vinci Treasure, Soul Man, Red Dawn, Secret Admirer, Gettysburg, H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, The Day the Earth Stopped and Gods and Generals. He is scheduled to appear in 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man. Biography Early life Christopher Thomas Howell, nicknamed either "Tommy" or "CT", was born on December 7, 1966, in Van Nuys, California, to Chris and Candice Howell. He has two sisters, Stacy and Candi, and a brother, John. His father worked as a stunt coordinator since Howell was six. As a young boy, Howell wanted to be a stuntman and was even a child stunt player. He began acting at the age of four, when cast in the Brian Keith Show in an episode called "The Little People". When Howell was young his parents divorced, leaving his mother with both of her sons and daughter Stacy, and his father took Candi with him. Howell shared his time with each parent and started his career through his father's job. When he was twelve, he became a rodeo champion at the California Junior Rodeo Association and was named "All-Around Cowboy" in August 1979. While growing up, he also spent time golfing with his grandfather (where his nickname "CT" came because that's how he was recorded on screen boards). Career Howell's showbiz debut was acting in the Brian Keith Show episode "The Little People" as a little boy whose ears are being checked out by a doctor. When he got older, he tried stunt acting like his father and worked on commercials for a while. His first film appearance was in the 1977 made-for-television movie It Happened One Christmas. Following the movie, he tried rodeo riding for a few years. In 1982 he was originally a child stuntman in Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Also in ET, he played a very minor role, Tyler, who appears in the very beginning of the movie and near the end as a bicycle rider. Afterward, due to his handsome features, he was cast as the lead role in Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders, which earned him a Young Artist Award. Following The Outsiders, he became a teen idol, appearing in teen magazines like Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine, which referred to him as "Tommy" and "Tom". In 1984 he and Outsiders co-star, Patrick Swayze, reunited for Grandview, U.S.A., also with Jamie Lee Curtis, and Red Dawn with Charlie Sheen and Lea Thompson. Howell also had a pivotal role in Tank, with James Garner and Jenilee Harrison. In 1985 he again starred in the lead role in Secret Admirer, opposite Lori Loughlin and Kelly Preston. Howell was one of two final actors in the running to play Marty McFly in Back to the Future the other being Eric Stoltz, who was eventually selected. Michael J. Fox would later go on to replace Stoltz after filming had begun. In 1986 he played a hitchhiker's target in the film The Hitcher, another of his successful movies. The sequel was released in 2003. Following that he starred as a white student who pretends to be black in the poorly received Soul Man. In 1988 Howell played Arturo Toscanini in the story of the world renown conductor in Franco Zeffirelli's Il Giovane Toscanini with Irma Capece Minutolo and Elizabeth Taylor, which was one of his very first straight-to-video releases. Howell and Kelly Preston reunited as lovers in A Tiger's Tale. At the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s, Howell appeared in The Return of the Musketeers and Side Out. In 1993, he starred with Linda Fiorentino and Nancy Allen in the campy thriller Acting on Impulse. After several straight-to-DVD features and a starring role in That Night, he achieved success again in the movie Gettysburg, which was popular with history buffs and history classrooms. He starred as Mike, a motorcycle courier in Mad Dogs & Englishmen (US title: Shameless) with Elizabeth Hurley. He started an interest in crime-thrillers after starring in Payback and playing serial killer Baby Face Nelson in a film of the same name. His made-for-television movie credits include Suspect Device, Sealed with a Kiss, Dads, and Dead Fire. Howell returned to the theater in the 2000s. He appeard in movies such as Asylum Days, the Gods and Generals prequel to Gettysburg, and The Hillside Strangler, playing a real-life serial killer. In 2004, Howell starred in Hoboken Hollow. He also became a supporter of the production company The Asylum, which produced his straight-to-DVD movies. In 2005, he starred as a man who gets separated from his wife and child in H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, one of three 2005 adaptations of the novel The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Because of its success, Howell directed and starred in a straight-to-DVD sequel War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave in 2008, which was heavily criticized. In 2005, he also reunited with his Secret Admirer co-star Lori Loughlin, when he had a recurring role on her television show Summerland as Zac Efron's father. After War of the Worlds, he later time directing unsuccessful straight to-DVD movies. Also, in 2008, he directed and starred in The Day the Earth Stopped, a mockbuster intended to capitalize on The Day the Earth Stood Still. For these reasons, 20th Century Fox have threatened legal action against The Asylum, but no action has yet been taken. He also appeared as a doctor in The Poseidon Adventure an adaptation of the 1972 film of the same name. Coincidentally, his father's first stunt co-ordination was for the original movie,5 though uncredited. He briefly hosted a show on KLSX later that year. He appeared in the Western The Pledge. The Tacoma band "Botch" made a song called "C. Thomas Howell as 'Soul Man'". Howell has been cast in The Amazing Spider-Man as a character called Ray. Further details about his character are being kept under wraps, but it is possible that he is playing Ray Cooper, a police officer who supports Captain George Stacy in the Spider-Man Comics. Television work After filming The Outsiders, Howell starred in his own television series Two Marriages as a rebellious teenager, which ended after four episodes, but letters of support got it back on air. Howell later expressed disappointment in the series, but eventually found the show more satisfying. After Two Marriages, Howell made guest appearances in shows like Moonlighting and The Hitchhiker. In 2000, Howell played a doctor stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash in Amazon. He initially turned down a guest role in ER after missing out on a role he wanted, but his wife signed him up after yet another offer. Following ER, he guest appeared in 24. He appeared in five episodes of Criminal Minds on CBS as the serial killer George Foyet (The Boston Reaper, based on the Zodiac Killer). Howell plays Dewey Dudek, a recovering alcoholic police officer, in the L.A. police drama Southland. In 2011, he guest starred on The Glades and he will star in Torchwood: Miracle Day. Off-screen Howell has worked with Francis Ford Copola many times and in other areas of making motion pictures including writing, producing, and directing. In 1995, he wrote and directed Hourglass, which starred him and Sofia Shinas. The following year, he helped produce The Big Fall and Pure Danger. Howell did not write or direct another movie until 2004. He and his father co-wrote the made for television movie Hope Ranch. Howell produced the film as well. The film was a success and Howell went on to write and produce Blind Injustice the next year. Two years later he produced The Stolen Moments of September. Personal life In his single days Howell shared a place with his friend, Darren Dalton, with whom he co-starred in The Outsiders and Red Dawn. From July 11, 1989, to sometime in 1990, Howell was married to actress Rae Dawn Chong, his Soul Man co-star. He then married Sylvie Anderson in 1992. They have three children, Isabelle (born February 17, 1993), Dashiell (born January 2, 1997), and Liam (born April 24, 2001). Isabelle appeared as Molly in Hope Ranch, credited as "Isabelle Howell", and Dashiell played Howell's son Alex, in H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, as "Dash Howell". The family currently resides in Stevenson Ranch, California. In 2008 Howell was a contestant in the reality game show, Celebracadabra, on which celebrities performed magic tricks practiced by experienced coaches. The series began on April 27 and ended on June 12; Howell won and was named Greatest Celebrity Magician.